James Spenceley

James Spenceley (born September 1976) is an Australian investor entrepreneur and company director. He is the founder of Vocus Communications (now Vocus Group) and an active Venture Capital investor. He is also the Chairman of Airtasker and a Non-Executive Director of ASX listed Think Childcare Limited.

James Spenceley
BornSeptember 1976
Sydney, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationVenture capitalist, entrepreneur
OrganizationMHOR Asset Management
Known forFounder of Vocus Group (ASX:VOC)
Chairman of Airtasker
Former owner of Illawarra Hawks NBL Basketball Team
Net worth $51 million (2016)
Websitejamesspenceley.com

Spenceley is most widely known for his role as the founder and former CEO of Australia's 4th largest fixed line telecommunications company Vocus Communications.[1]

Spenceley started Vocus in September 2007. He sold his house to initially fund the business. The company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2010.[2] When he stepped down as CEO of Vocus in March 2016 the company had revenues of greater than $1.8 billion and a market capitalisation of $5 billion.[3]

In 2016 Spenceley was listed at number 51 of Financial Review Rich List of 100 wealthiest Australian's under 40 with a net worth of $51 million.[4]

Spenceley purchased the Wollongong Hawks (now Illawarra Hawks) NBL basketball team in July 2014 right before the start of the 2014/2015 season.[5] In October 2014, he laid out his plan to win a Grand Final within 3 years.[6] The team finished last in the 2014/2015 season, 4th in the 2015/2016 season and was runner up in the 2016/2017 season losing in the Grand Final to the Perth Wildcats.[7] In February 2018, Spenceley announced he had sold his share in the Illawarra Hawks.[8]

He is an active Venture Capital investor,[9] with investments in the marketplace business Airtasker where he is now Chairman of the board, Spaceship Financial Services, ASX Listed Buy Now Pay Later business Splitit (ASX:SPT) meal kit delivery service Marley Spoon (ASX:MMM), MoneyMe (ASX:MME) the online consumer lender which listed on the ASX in December 2019 and indoor vertical farming startup Sustenir.[10]

In 2017 and 2018 he was a national judge for the Australian Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[11]

Awards

References
  1. Ramli, David (2015-09-28). "Vocus to merge with M2 to create $3 billion telecommunications titan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  2. White, Sue (2016-02-20). "Meet the boss: Vocus founder James Spenceley". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  3. "CMO50 2016 #9: Jon Amery, Vocus". CMO Australia. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  4. "BRW Young Rich 2016". Financial Review. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  5. KEEBLE, TIM (2014-07-14). "It's official: James Spenceley takes on Wollongong Hawks". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  6. "Spenceley lays platform for a new Hawks era". Illawarra Mercury. 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  7. "Resilient Illawarra Hawks prove pundits wrong to make NBL grand final". ABC News. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  8. Mee, Cameron (2018-02-06). "Illawarra Hawks owner James Spenceley sells club". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  9. "Telco boss turned fund manager James Spenceley on small caps investing". Financial Review. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  10. "Dailytelegraph.com.au | Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  11. "EOY Judging". Ey.com. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  12. "Dailytelegraph.com.au | Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  13. "Vocus founder James Spenceley inducted into CommsDay's Hall of Fame Telecom Industry Awards". Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  14. "EY".
  15. "Why you should hire crazy, smart people". Financial Review. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  16. "Young Rich 2013: 81. James Spenceley". Financial Review. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  17. Douglas, Jeanne-Vida (21 September 2011). "Tech kings dominate BRW Young Rich". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
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